Saturday, March 29, 2008

Meal time is quite and adventure. When Steve and I were dating we had so much fun going to movies and out to eat. I have to say as much as I loved those days, these are my favorite days to date. We still love to go out to dinner. Now our server gets a much bigger tip because of all the noise and extra food on the floor. While the words "Is it hot?" and "Is it hard", may conjure up an altogether different scene is some people's minds - for us it it the distinct pleasure of tasting all foods that our little ones eat. We have even turned into birds at some point. That is we put food in our mouths to check if it is too hot or too hard and then procede to feed this "checked food" to the boys. Is is amazing how becoming a parent changes your perspective. It is true at times Steve and I are too tired and overwhelmed to even say good morning. The entire truth is that we are so close now that sometimes words are not needed at all. There is nothing that says romance like seeing your husband spit food into his hand.

Her Little ShadowsI saw a young mother with eyes full of laughterAnd two little shadows come following afterWherever she moved, they were always right there-Holding onto her skirts, hanging onto her chair,Before her, behind her-an adhesive pair.

“Don’t you ever get weary as, day after day,Your two little tagalongs get in your way?”

She smiled as she shook her pretty young head,And I’ll always remember the words that she said:It’s good to have shadows that run when you runThat laugh when you’re happy and hum when you hum-For you only have shadows when your life is filled with sun.~Barbara Burrow

Friday, March 28, 2008

The last time that I bought high heals was when I was all fat and pregnant and had the honor of being in my best friend's wedding. That was one of the few times in my life that I had bought shoes that hurt my feet. In those shoes defense, it was not the shoes that were the problem, but the extra fifty pounds that those swollen feet had to carry. Now shoe shopping is an altogether different experience. First of all I am usually buying shoes for the Nathan, Adam, and myself. Secondly, my basis for a pair of shoes is as follows 1) Can I get them on and off without hands? 2) If running after a child will I be able to actually run? 3) Are they going to show dirt? Then the fun begins. So Nathan needs a size 5 wide, really? Who carries that? So spend about fifty dollars and there are plenty of 5 wide shoes. I would prefer to spend out 10. 50 for shoes on a one-year-old. Come on. So we find soft shoes that will work. Velcro. Great. They have two size fives. I can just make Adam's tighter and Nathan's more lose. So we bring the shoes home. Suddenly I hear the rip and rip and rip of Velcro being unfastened and fastened again. I stare down at 10 naked toes (5 per child) and go in search of the missing two right shoes. Okay we get ( when I say we I mean me as in Mom) all four shoes on. Quick - slip on my shoes (while holding both boys) and run out the door.

Put down the debit cards, no money is required for fun. It is true there are boxes of toys at home, boxes of toys inside Grandma's house. What do the boys want - they want to play with the gourds that are drying in Grandma's garden. There always seems to be dirt associated with our fun. Really what is better than a muddy molding gourd -really? So as any good mom would do, I sat down on the cold damp dirt and played muddy moldy gourds with Nathan and Adam. I figure the millions of germs they were exposed to helped their little immune systems, and the millions of smiles and giggles helped Mom's.

Nathan rolling the gourd. Maybe someday this will be an olympic sport.

Sunday, March 2, 2008

Saturday, March 1, 2008

We are getting rid of the baby mullets. It was all planned for their first birthday. We were going to cut their hair, tie it with little blue ribbons, and place it in a keepsake box. Well, as with anything around here lately, convenience won over sentiment. It was couple days after their actual birthday, I found some old white string, and the two little locks are sitting in zip lock baggies on the bathroom sink. We are not always organized, we are not always on time, but when the chips fall and when I am at my wits end.....we stop and just tickle the monsters until a good mood falls over us again.

The Hauf Story

Steve and I met in History class in our second year at Drake University. For me, it was love at first site.

Steve proposed to me the day before we graduated on the spot were we had our first date.

We were married in December of 2000, during a blizzard. The Haufs were a family of 2.

We adopted Tucker into our lives. He was our first hairy spoiled baby.

On February 22, 2007 we welcomed our beautiful, fraternal boy twins into the world. Nathan came first at weighing 6 lbs 10 oz. Adam followed 12 minutes later weighing 5 lbs 10 oz. The Haufs became a family of 4.

Tucker passed at home. Gone too soon. We miss him everyday.

A little girl Lauren joined our family on October 26, 2010. We arrived at the hospital 45 minutes before she arrived. We were surprised at how quickly she came, and even more surprised at how much love she added to the household. The Haufs are were a family of 5.

We welcomed Bear and Rudy into the family. Big hearts, lots of fur, and eight paws. No dog will never replace Tucker. But we learned to love a dog again. and again.

Emma Katherine slid into the world on April 24, 2014. We arrived at the hospital three days before she came. She came at her own pace and filled in the last space (or so we thought). The Haufs are a family of 5 +2.

We will be adding to the love in July. One more little boy will bless this home.